Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants Gene and Cell Therapies - Guidelines 2021
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2021 Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants Gene and Cell Therapies Guidelines
NSW Health 1 Reserve Road St Leonards NSW 2065 (02) 9391 9228 www.health.nsw.gov.au www.medicalresearch.nsw.gov.au This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source. It may not be reproduced for commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above requires written permission from the NSW Ministry of Health. © NSW Ministry of Health 2021 Further copies of this document can be downloaded from the NSW Health website: www.medicalresearch.nsw.gov.au SHPN: (OHMR) 210099 NSW Health – 2021 – Early-Mid Career Research Grants – Gene and Cell Therapies 2
Call for applications host organisation, field of research and your preferred
attendance mode for the workshop– face to face or
NSW Health invites eligible individuals to apply for the online to: cvrn@heartfoundation.org.au.
NSW Gene and Cell Therapies Program Early-Mid
Career Researcher Grants. Funding for these Grants Further information about the workshop will be provided
will be provided for three years from 2020-21 to 2023- to interested applicants.
24. Clinician researchers, researchers from culturally
and linguistically diverse backgrounds, Aboriginal and Commercialisation Training Program
Torres Strait Islander researchers and primary carers NSW Health is developing a Commercialisation Training
who have experienced career disruptions are Program, which grant recipients are required to
encouraged to apply. complete during their candidature. The training will
provide students with a high-level understanding of the
For the purpose of this Grant, an early-mid career
pharmaceutical industry, its structure, corporate roles
researcher is defined as a researcher who is within 15
and the process of taking a product from a concept
years between the conferral of their PhD (or equivalent)
through to market. Specifically, students will understand
and the submission deadline and has not reached
the essential steps required to create successful
professorial level. PhD students who expect to have
therapeutics from a formulation, manufacturing,
their PhD awarded by June 2021 are eligible to apply.
regulatory and reimbursement strategy point of view. At
Host organisations are invited to submit a maximum the completion of the course students will understand
of ten (10) applications. Applications close on 9 how to construct a target product profile and associated
April 2021. business case for a new therapeutic product.
Objectives Eligible areas of research
Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants aim to: This funding will support the recruitment of early-mid
career researchers to undertake research projects
• fund talented researchers in the early-mid
within the gene and gene-modified somatic cell therapy
stages of their career, to undertake research
development and manufacture sectors. Research
that improves wellbeing and health outcomes
projects describing stem cells as the therapeutic product
for patients
will be deemed ineligible and will be excluded from
• embed high-quality, innovative research in the further consideration.
NSW health system
• encourage the development of research skills in
Clinician researchers
a supportive environment Clinicians, both medical and non-medical, are
encouraged to apply. Clinical experience will be taken
• support early-mid career researchers to gain into consideration during the review process.
research grants and fellowships from bodies
such as the National Health and Medical Clinicians may use up to 50% of the grant to backfill
Research Council (NHMRC), Australian their clinical role, with appropriate justification. If the
Research Council (ARC) and Medical Research grant is to be used for this purpose the application must
Future Fund (MRFF) be signed by the appropriate department head in the
local health district. The salary limits are as follows:
• bridge the gap between research, policy and
practice to increase research impact and • Clinician – medical: Salary limit – up to 0.6
translation. FTE Staff Specialist. A similar arrangement is
also available for Visiting Medical Officers.
Pre-application workshop • Clinician – non-medical: Salary limit – up to
0.6 FTE as per Allied Health (including
The NSW Cardiovascular Research Network (CVRN)
Pharmacist and radiographers) and Nursing
will host an interactive workshop in March 2021 to help
awards.
applicants understand NSW Health requirements
(including Program Logic) and prepare their application.
PhD candidates
To participate, you must register your interest by 26
Applicants who are currently enrolled in a PhD may
February 2021 by emailing your name, contact details,
apply, if the date of award is expected to be before June
NSW Health – 2021 – Early-Mid Career Research Grants – Gene and Cell Therapies 32021. Evidence of award of the PhD must be provided 8. Successful applicants must apply for federal funding
to NSW Health prior to the announcement of funding. (NHMRC, MRFF, ARC) at least once during the
Announcement dates will be advertised on the OHMR funded period and provide evidence of the
website. Note that evidence of submission of a PhD is application, scores, feedback and outcome to NSW
not sufficient. Health.
Funding amounts Submission of applications
Early-mid career grants of up to $130,000 per year for Applicants must use the Early-Mid Career Researcher
the 3-year duration of the grant (maximum total Grants 2021 Application Form and attach any supporting
grant amount $400,000) will be awarded. evidence. The form is available at:
https://www.medicalresearch.nsw.gov.au.
Grants are for research projects or programs and can
cover a combination of salaries of the research team The admin contact at the host organisation or
(clinical and/or non-clinical), backfill for clinicians to administering organisation (listed in the Application
quarantine research time, consumables, equipment and Form) must submit the complete application form by
other research infrastructure email to MOH-OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au by 9
April 2021.
Funding conditions and exclusions The submission is not complete until a confirmation
1. Research funded through an Early-Mid Career email is received by the person submitting the
Researcher Grant must be conducted in the NSW application. If the person submitting the application does
health system or affiliated organisation (university, not receive a confirmation email, it is their responsibility
medical research institute, industry partners). to follow up within 24 hours, by emailing MOH-
2. Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants must not be OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au. Attachments should
spent on capital works, general maintenance costs, not be included within the follow up email.
organisational infrastructure or overheads, The confirmation email should be retained as this may
telephone/communication systems, basic office be required by NSW Health as evidence of submission.
equipment, such as desks and chairs, rent and the If an email confirming receipt of the application is not
cost of utilities. available, no further correspondence regarding the
3. Applicants are required to declare the source, application will be entered into.
duration and level of funding already held for
Please note NSW Health will ONLY accept:
research in the subject area of the application.
4. Funding is conditional on the early-mid career 1. Submission of the application by email to MOH-
researcher and the Chief Executive of the host OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au
organisation signing the declaration on the 2. Application forms that have been endorsed by the
application form, which outlines the host Chief Investigator and Research Director and Chief
organisation’s obligations to the early-mid career Executive of the Host Organisation. Applications
researcher. without a signed declaration by the Chief
Investigator and Host Organisation will not be
5. Grants may be applied for regardless of other
reviewed. Late submission of signature pages is
funding currently held or applied for, including
not permitted.
NHMRC fellowships. Applications must clearly
describe the purpose of the additional funding and Files less than 20MB in size. Please note emails larger
justify that the additional research will be than 20MB will be blocked and NSW Health does not
complementary but not duplicative. receive notification of blocked emails.
6. Grants provided under this funding round are one- Answers to frequently asked questions and updates on
line grants, not fellowships. the Early-Mid Career Researcher Grants Program are
available on the following webpage:
7. Successful applicants who do not meet the https://www.medicalresearch.nsw.gov.au/cell-gene-
requirements outlined in the funding agreement therapy/.
without written approval may have their funding
withdrawn. Any queries regarding this Program may be directed by
email to MOH-OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au.
NSW Health – 2021 – Early-Mid Career Research Grants – Gene and Cell Therapies 4Before you apply Priority populations
It is important that all research projects consider and
Research collaborations and partnerships respond to the distribution of the burden of disease
Applicants are encouraged to identify and engage within the population and the needs of under-
relevant partners who will provide a meaningful represented, higher risk and priority populations where
contribution to delivery of the research project and appropriate. These may include women, Aboriginal and
implementation of outcomes. Torres Strait Islander people, people from a non-English
speaking background, socioeconomically
Partners may include: disadvantaged groups, and people living in regional and
• NSW Health System partners including NSW remote areas.
Ministry of Health, Pillars, and statewide health Relevant partners should be engaged early to ensure
services that the research design and conduct will be effective
• local health districts and specialty health and appropriate for these population groups.
networks
Program logic and research impact
• Advanced Health Research Translation Centres
Applicants are required to submit a Program Logic
and Centres for Innovation in Regional Health
diagram, which includes the project need, aims,
• universities and medical research institutes activities, outputs, end users, pathway to adoption and
anticipated impacts (short and long-term outcomes).
• Aboriginal Community Controlled Health
Services Applicants should consider the interactions between
each component of the Program Logic i.e. each output
• Primary Healthcare Networks should be supported by at least one activity; each
• clinical networks impact should be realised through the adoption and
use of output(s) by the end user(s). The impact section
• non-government organisations should consider how the findings are expected to
improve the outcomes of the end users (beneficiaries).
• consumers and patients.
The research must be conducted in NSW but may be Research Translation
part of a wider collaboration. All research projects should have potential to lead to
changes in clinical practice or policy in the short and/or
Industry Partnerships long term. Applications must clearly describe:
The program encourages outcome-focused
• The clinical significance of the research
collaborative research partnerships between industry
entities and research organisations. • The expected pathway for this to occur
The following principles apply: • Links to research partners and other stakeholders
who will take the research to the next step on the
• Industry collaborations must involve a lead translation pathway.
applicant who is based at an eligible host
organisation and who is the main driver of the Research Impact Assessment
project. Industry organisations are not eligible to
The program logic will be used to assess likelihood of
be host organisations.
research impact at application stage. If the research is
• Only an eligible lead applicant can apply for funded, the program logic will guide the measurement
grant funding and submit an application on of impact throughout the project and at its conclusion.
behalf of project partners. Research impact will be considered across five
• Applications may include and maintain among domains:
project partners one or more industry entities. Domain 1: Knowledge Generation
• All partners must contribute resources to the • New treatments, diagnostics or drug targets
project. Industry matched funding is
• New clinical or medical prototypes
encouraged, but not required.
NSW Health – 2021 – Early-Mid Career Research Grants – Gene and Cell Therapies 5• Peer-reviewed publications and presentations at Eligibility criteria
conferences
Applications must meet all eligibility criteria.
• Media coverage and other non-peer-reviewed
publications
Early-mid career researcher
• Patent applications.
Based in NSW
Domain 2: Capability Building
The early-mid career researcher must reside in or plan
• New partnerships leveraged to move to NSW and must be employed by a NSW
• Training and professional development based medical research institute, university, or non-
government organisation.
• Research students supported.
Domain 3: Policy and Practice Gene and Genetically-modified Cell Therapies
Research
• Instances where research findings are considered
in policy development The early-mid career researcher must satisfy the
requirement that their research is in the field of gene
• Instances of change in clinical practice and genetically-modified cell therapies research.
• Instances of new health technology or new
treatments used in clinical care Submit a complete application
Domain 4: Patient health and population outcomes The early-mid career researcher must fully complete the
Application Form, attach all relevant and required
• Improved health outcomes, including: documentation; sign the declaration on the form and
o Reducing the time to an outcome or include certification from the host organisation.
change in the
Australian citizen, permanent residency status
o Change in the likelihood of an outcome
or appropriate visa
occurring
The researcher must be an Australian citizen, a
Domain 5: Economic outcomes permanent resident of Australia or have an appropriate
• Research jobs created and sustained working visa for the full term of the Grant. Researchers
who are neither Australian citizens nor permanent
• Patents and commercialisation residents must provide evidence of residency status and
• Value of leveraged research funding (external the right to remain in Australia for the duration of the
grants awarded due to NSW Health funding) funding period, certified by a Justice of the Peace (JP)
or equivalent. Note that for electronic documents, an
• Reduction in cost of delivering care
official VEVO statement is sufficient, JP certification is
• Potential for return on investment. not required. Australian Citizens and Permanent
Residents are not required to provide evidence.
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property (IP) arrangements should be Classified as an EMC researcher
agreed between all research partners and The early-mid career researcher must be less than 15
organisations, according to local policy. IP years postdoctoral and not have reached professorial
arrangements must cover both background IP and IP level.
that is developed during the project. IP arrangements
should consider the contributions of all parties. The Host organisation
arrangements should be detailed in the application.
• The host organisation is where most of the
research is conducted.
• The host organisation must be based in NSW and
employ the early-mid career researcher for the
duration of the grant.
NSW Health – 2021 – Early-Mid Career Research Grants – Gene and Cell Therapies 6The host organisation must conduct health and Selection criteria
medical research and be a:
All applications for funding that meet the eligibility
• university criteria will be assessed against the following selection
• independent medical research institute criteria. In addressing the selection criteria, applicants
should specifically highlight the relevance to gene and
• not-for-profit organisation
genetically-modified cell therapies research.
• NSW Health local health district or specialty health
Applications should be written in plain English, as
network.
applications may be reviewed by a panel member with
The early-mid career researcher’s host organisation expertise in a different area to that of the application.
must provide appropriate infrastructure support for the
research project, such as wet/dry lab space, computer Applicant
equipment, and desk space. Applicants will be assessed on:
An authorised representative of the host organisation is • academic and relevant clinical qualifications
required to sign the application form indicating support
from the Research Director and Chief Executive for the • research, clinical and industry experience,
application and to certify that the organisation complies including demonstrated capacity to work in
with the requirements of the grant. multidisciplinary teams
• skills and experience directly related to the topic
Administering Organisation area(s) and methodology of the research project
An administering organisation is only required where
the funds are held by a separate organisation to the • track record in research, relative to opportunity
host organisation. • responsibilities that could reasonably be
In such cases, the administering organisation will enter considered to have had a negative impact on
into the funding agreement with NSW Health, manage research track record over the previous ten
the funds, submit financial reports and coordinate years.
other reporting requirements as outlined in the funding
agreement. Research project
If the host organisation is a NSW Health Organisation, A clear and detailed description and justification for the
grant funds must be paid to an administering project is required, including aims, methodology, and
organisation that can manage funds across financial expected outputs and outcomes. The research project
years. will be assessed according to the following criteria:
The administering organisation must be: • how the proposed project will advance existing
knowledge and why this is important
• a university
• a medical research institute, or • the extent to which the proposed research is
• a non-government organisation in NSW. innovative and novel
• strength, rigour and appropriateness of the
research methodology
• potential outputs and outcomes of the research
and how the research will improve clinical
practice and/or patient outcomes in the short or
long term
• host organisation track record in development
and delivery of gene and genetically-modified
cell therapies
• ability to deliver the research outputs, outcomes
and/or objectives within the grant period
• scalability and generalisability of results
NSW Health – 2021 – Early-Mid Career Research Grants – Gene and Cell Therapies 7• the skills of the proposed research team that Selection process
are relevant to the project, and each team
member’s ability to contribute meaningfully to Step 1: Eligibility check
the research Following the closing date for applications, the NSW
• relationship to existing research undertaken by Ministry of Health will make an appraisal as to whether
the host organisation and the research team or not each Application has satisfied ALL of the eligibility
criteria.
• proposed translation pathway, including
consideration of commercialisation and Step 2: Review by independent expert panel
intellectual property where appropriate An independent selection panel of expert reviewers,
chaired by the Executive Director of the Office for
• consideration of priority population groups if
Health and Medical Research, will assess each
relevant.
application against the selection criteria.
Budget Step 3: Funding recommendation
Full details of the budget should be clear in the The independent selection panel will agree on the final
application. The budget will be assessed on: ranking of all eligible applications and will make a
• appropriateness of the funding amount and recommendation for funding to the NSW Ministry of
purpose Health.
• existing funding for the research, and how this Step 4: Decision and notification
relates to the additional funding requested The NSW Ministry for Health will make a determination
on grant recipients and amounts. All applicants will be
• other contributions and support for the project.
informed as to whether they have been awarded
funding. This decision is final and may not be appealed.
Skill development
The application will be assessed on skill development Step 5: Grant Agreements
activities undertaken to date, and proposed skill The NSW Ministry of Health will contact administering
development during the period of the grant. Activities organisations for successful early-mid career
undertaken should align with the researcher’s vision for researchers to execute a funding agreement. A
their career in research. standard, non-negotiable funding agreement will be
Examples of skill development activities that may be used.
undertaken include: Funding will be paid as per arrangements in the
• applications for national grant funding Funding Agreement.
• leading or participation in clinical quality Reporting requirements
assurance activities
A schedule for reporting will be outlined in the funding
• receiving regular formal mentoring agreement and will include a requirement to provide:
• attending training, for example in research skills • annual progress reports
or research leadership
• annual financial reports
• taking on leadership roles
• a final report following the conclusion of the
• mentoring or supervising junior researchers term of the grant
• involvement in collaborations, for example with
other research groups or policy agencies
• active roles in relevant networks, advisory
committees or governance groups
• collaboration with clinicians and others involved
in translation of research findings.
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